Part 3-5 of the journey, 1000km to 3820km.
At some point I stop forming new memories. Train sleep isn't real sleep, the occasional station stop, bright lights, beggars. Let alone the fact that always the 'ticket only' coach has about 16 people in the 8 bed compartment. I'd call second class sleeper a form of mild torture, and the train, a rolling cess-pit. This is heightened by the fact the sinks and toilets frequently run out of water.
The other guys in the compartment are all going to Assam bar one, and seem friendly enough. But they are from poor backgrounds, from the size of them they look like perpetual boys, and they don't speak a word of English. We bond a little over the 3 days, and they help me in a little of the negotiation for buying a gamcha. (Some sort of shoulder scarf which holds the head scarf in place). I wanted it to insulate myself from the dirtier parts of my seat-bed.
I don't remember much else from the middle days of the journey. Identical looking station platforms, identical drying cowpats on the walls. In the 56 hours it covers 2988km.
It's a chilly morning in Assam, it's much further north than when I started the journey. I stumble off the train at 7.15am. After 4 nights of train sleep everything is a little hazy, but I'm lucky. I've only lost my lucky charm on the journey. Right outside the station I stumble into a government bus to Shillong, and a very friendly man from one of the northeastern states directs me to a ticket counter. Within 15 minutes I'm already moving towards Shillong. On this bus I'm sat next to a local going to the same town (Sohra/Cherunpunji), and we wait for a shared sumo (Jeep) together. And it's done, I manage not to vomit on the Jeep and I'm there, sort of.
At some point I stop forming new memories. Train sleep isn't real sleep, the occasional station stop, bright lights, beggars. Let alone the fact that always the 'ticket only' coach has about 16 people in the 8 bed compartment. I'd call second class sleeper a form of mild torture, and the train, a rolling cess-pit. This is heightened by the fact the sinks and toilets frequently run out of water.
The other guys in the compartment are all going to Assam bar one, and seem friendly enough. But they are from poor backgrounds, from the size of them they look like perpetual boys, and they don't speak a word of English. We bond a little over the 3 days, and they help me in a little of the negotiation for buying a gamcha. (Some sort of shoulder scarf which holds the head scarf in place). I wanted it to insulate myself from the dirtier parts of my seat-bed.
I don't remember much else from the middle days of the journey. Identical looking station platforms, identical drying cowpats on the walls. In the 56 hours it covers 2988km.
It's a chilly morning in Assam, it's much further north than when I started the journey. I stumble off the train at 7.15am. After 4 nights of train sleep everything is a little hazy, but I'm lucky. I've only lost my lucky charm on the journey. Right outside the station I stumble into a government bus to Shillong, and a very friendly man from one of the northeastern states directs me to a ticket counter. Within 15 minutes I'm already moving towards Shillong. On this bus I'm sat next to a local going to the same town (Sohra/Cherunpunji), and we wait for a shared sumo (Jeep) together. And it's done, I manage not to vomit on the Jeep and I'm there, sort of.
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